Rio still stands. When asked about their favorite travel destinations, in Brazil or worldwide, many people still reply: Rio de Janeiro.

Even with tragedies like daily shootings, a failed government, a totally absent city hall, a burned museum, hillsides deforested by the urban sprawl, closed stores, hotels in the verge of bankruptcy, and the worst unemployment rate in the country -- even with all that, Rio still stands.

After all, history is full of examples. Berlin was destroyed by air bombings, San Francisco, by an earthquake; Lisbon had a tsunami, New Orleans, a hurricane. They are also still standing, whole once again.  The physical destruction caused some changes, but they all still have their charms and personality, as if their core remained untouched.

Rio's scourge is less physical and more moral in nature. The disdain, mismanagement, corruption and the excessive exposure of the city's afflictions in the media, this storm of misfortunes raining down on us may be as hard to face than material destruction. It's a difficult time. But, as I repeat, we still stand.
 

We have the landscape, of course, with its beauty that imprints itself to our retinas. Cariocas, as Rio residents are called, either by birth, adoption or plain admiration, are people transformed by the beautiful Rio de Janeiro landscape.

But there's more. We have a history. Although often abandoned or forgotten, our history is in the buildings, the stones, in the archives that still belong to us, but are waiting for better days.

The National Museum's fire reminded us of our many hidden, threatened secret treasures. Like the Dom João VI Museum, kept in a room at the School of Fine Arts at Ilha do Fundão. Also like the gorgeous Pharmacy Museum, hidden away at the hospital Santa Casa de Misericórdia. And let's not forget the beautiful Automóvel Club's building, recently invaded by protesters. All of them badly cared for, forgotten. But they still stand, just like Rio. After all, they're ours, and they are here.

This article belongs to the special 50th-anniversary edition of Folha's Travel Section.

^{Translated by NATASHA MADOV}
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